The Race to the Top Reform Support Network (RSN) designed this toolkit to help States and school districts implement student learning objectives (SLOs) with the highest degree of quality. The toolkit contains templates, guidance documents, sample SLOs and other tools, which States and school districts can select or adapt for their own purposes as…

Interprets the standards used in 74 curriculum audits undertaken by school districts between 1988 and 1995. School systems are judged on their control of resources, programs, and personnel; establishment of clear educational objectives; connectivity and equity in program development and implementation; use of feedback from system-designed…

Purpose: The study seeks to examine the relationship between the implementation of the ISO 9000 quality management system and educational outcomes of schools, measured by student achievement on the state-mandated tests and school attendance rates--graduation rates, in the case of high schools. Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted…

This report provides an overview of the Department of Education's (ED) progress toward four main goals: (1) help all children reach challenging academic standards so they are prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment; (2) build a solid foundation for learning for all children; (3) ensure access to…

This report provides an overview of the Department of Education's (ED) progress toward four main goals: (1) help all children reach challenging academic standards; (2) build a solid foundation for learning for all children; (3) ensure access to postsecondary education and lifelong learning; and (4) make ED a high-performance organization. The…

Presents a framework for judging educational technology programs that was developed for the Department of Education by the Expert Panel on Educational Technology. Highlights include clearly articulated goals; developing learning and thinking skills; equity for educational excellence; promoting organizational change; measurable evidence of…

This article provides a review of educational reforms that are critical of contemporary special education practices, presents the principles embodied in the total quality education (TQE) movement, and argues the need for special education to be fully involved in the general education reform movement. (Author/JDD)

This paper provides a synthesis of the literature on the role of benchmarking, with a focus on its use in the public sector. Benchmarking is discussed in the context of quality systems, of which it is an important component. The paper describes the basic types of benchmarking, pertinent research about its application in the public sector, the…

The administration of the District of Columbia Public Schools has developed a plan for coping with the issues of the 1985-86 school year and achieving long range objectives for the period 1983-87. An outline of the 29 steps of the planning process explaining the input of each relevant division and office, togetyher with a timelines chart, is…

The future of educational design, development, and improvement lies in integrating "how" with "what" and "why." Critical strategic thinking factors include abandoning comfort zones; focusing on ends, not means; linking all three planning and result levels; starting with an ideal vision; preparing measurable…

Two recent reports (Boyer's "High School" and Goodlad's "A Place Called School") on the current state of U.S. education and the goals and means of improving it are discussed. It is concluded that public policy must match the needs expressed in these and other reports on education, and that it is critical to support the teacher and humanize…

This document discusses the need to control curriculum quality and describes two methods to assess school districts' efforts at curriculum quality control. Exercising such control means effecting a congruence between what should be taught (the school district's objectives), what is taught, and what students learn. In the first method of assessing…

Discusses steps necessary to running small schools on a more business-like basis, including quality control, product (student) evaluation, production process monitoring, establishment of standards, improved recruitment, market research, and sales promotion. (MH)

Program implementation under the American Indian Education Act of 1972 (IEA) is evaluated in this progress report via narrative and tabular data relative to the following: (1) Comparative Overview of 1973 and 1974 Title IV-IEA Programs (project funding, entitlement, and eligibility; grants and funding; Indian pupil enrollment; per pupil…

This book provides an overview of vocational-technical education and training (VTET) in the 10 member countries of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SAMEO). The book begins with an introduction explaining the objectives and methodology of the cooperative research project on which the study was based. Each of the 10…